


Yet Unwritten

by Lockea



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Animals, Child Soldiers, Fate & Destiny, Harm to Children, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Screw Destiny, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-29 21:46:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17816075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lockea/pseuds/Lockea
Summary: Riku is a Chaos Soldier – a warrior marked with a chaos Aptitude whose only existence is on the front lines of Caelum’s war against the encroaching monsters of the darkness and conflicts with Caelum’s adversaries. When a mission goes south and Riku barely survives, he’s sent back to his childhood home on Destiny Islands to recover. Yet Riku is a dark mark on his home island – his family would rather he was dead than admit his shameful existence and Riku barely remembers what life without war is like.By the age of sixteen, most people have twelve to twenty Aptitudes. Sora has three. As such everyone around him has written him off as worthless, hopeless. Only Sora’s animals, rescued and recovering, don’t judge Sora for what he can’t control. When a young man new to the island rescues an injured duck and brings it to Sora for care, the two form an unlikely friendship with one another.Riku just wanted to get better as fast as possible so he could go back to the familiar world of the front lines, but as he and Sora grow closer, Riku finds his priorities changing. There is no future for either of them on Destiny Islands, but maybe together they can write their own path forward.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to this monstrosity. The idea behind it was basically "what if your destiny was written on your skin?" and then it spiraled out of control from there.
> 
> A few notes on names and the structure of the Chaos Soldiers. Units of Chaos Soldiers operate under the guidance of a handler with each squad having a First and Second who report directly to the handler and manage the squad in the field. No Chaos Soldier has rank over another, even the First and Second, but they do tend to arrange themselves by experience and skill in the field. Therefore, members of a squad use First and Second as titles of respect for their leaders. In Riku's squad, Leon is the First and Cloud is the Second, but Riku refers to them by their titles out of respect. Chaos Soldiers also don't have last names legally, especially not after they reach majority. This will be explained a bit more later, but just in case you're wondering why Riku refers to everyone but other members of his squad by their last names -- that's why.
> 
> Riku's counselor is also a character from canon, with a fanon last name, so if you'd like to take a guess at who Counselor Brille is, feel free.

It was the sound of beeping monitors and whispered conversation that woke Riku, lulling him from the darkness that had swallowed him whole and refused to let go. Unfortunately, waking meant he could feel his body again, and as memory rushed in, Riku winced in pain – or tried to – and the conversation in the room halted.

Riku blinked slowly, the white ceiling coming into focus. A person leaned over his bed and Riku managed a small smile as Lea’s face came into focus. “Hey.” He said, as nonchalantly as possible given that he was lying half dead in a hospital and Lea was frowning at him.

“Don’t you ‘hey’ me.” Lea replied. “You almost died, you moron. I’m gonna kill you as soon as you can walk again.”

Riku chuckled weakly. Behind Lea, another person said, “Now, now, Lea, you know First has called dibs on murdering the runt.” Isa appeared on the other side of the bed a moment later, wry smile on his face. “We’re lucky Namine is such a talented tracker. Even two hours later and we’d be short one runt in our squad.”

“That bad huh?” Riku replied. “What happened, anyway?”

“Mission went south.” Lea said curtly. “Bad intel. Namine sensed something off minutes before the squad was ambushed. We fought ‘em off, thankfully, because they clearly weren’t expecting the whole squad to be there, minus you. Way we figure, they thought we’d split even, so when you were ambushed, it was just you. Namine tracked you down but it was two days before we got permission and reinforcements for a rescue op. You were barely breathing when we pulled you from the enemy camp. Namine did her best to stabilize you, the medics at the forward camp did more, and then the whole squad got recalled back to Point Departure when it was clear you weren’t going to be able to walk let alone shoot for at least a month. First’s been cursing your name since he realized shit hit the fan.”

Riku winced. He thought he remembered bits and pieces of all that. Flashes of the dark enemy camp, the plywood walls of the forward camp’s infirmary. Not much really, all told.

“You’re lucky you didn’t lose any limbs.” Isa added. “Docs think you’ll be fine given a few months convalescence and some physical therapy. It’s basically a miracle. Meanwhile, our squad’s been deactivated. Handlers decided we’d been activated too long and need a break.”

“First and Second are delighted, of course.” Lea said. “First hasn’t been deactivated in twelve years, and Second even longer. Isa and I aren’t complaining either, but it sucks for you, Roxas, and Namine. They’ve already been shipped back to Twilight Town and rumor has it once your handler is chosen and the negotiations with your family finished, you’ll be heading back to Destiny Islands. I don’t envy you.”

“Yeah.” Riku couldn’t disagree with that assessment. Ugh. Destiny Islands. When Riku first left the island twelve years ago he’d missed it fiercely, wishing with all his heart to return someday. A few years, a few more Aptitudes on his skin, and that dream had faded in the dark. No one would want someone like Riku around, someone cursed with two chaos Aptitudes. No, it was better at the academy at Point Departure, and later on the field with his squad. People like Riku, like Lea and Isa and Roxas and Namine, they didn’t belong among normal people.

He hadn’t thought about Destiny Islands in forever. Hadn’t wanted to, for that matter. He’d heard all the horror stories from the other young Chaos Soldiers. The law said that a juvenile Chaos Soldier in a deactivated role was to be returned to their family until reactivation. It was supposed to be for the sake of the Chaos Soldiers, showing that the country of Caelum wasn’t completely heartless towards children with chaos Aptitudes. It looked nice on paper, but Riku’d never heard of a family that wanted their child back if the child had a chaos Aptitude. Riku thought his family might like to pretend he was dead rather than acknowledge they’d had a cursed child. Going home would be… well, tedious was putting it diplomatically. Living hell, Riku imagined. And Namine and Roxas were already back with their families now.

“Anyway,” Lea said, snapping Riku from his melancholy thoughts, “Dr. Gainsborough said we should let you rest. Handler Fair came by too, said they’ve gotten the paperwork over to your family so now it’s just waiting on a handler to become available. Isa and I are going to get food, but First should be here in a few hours if you’re still awake. The four of us have been taking shifts – Second might come with First if he hasn’t fucked off to nowhere with his husband.”

Riku nodded. He waved the two goodbyes but didn’t stay awake much longer, his eyelids heavy as he fell back into exhausted sleep.

*~*~*

The next time Riku woke with less confusion as to his surroundings. He managed to turn his head far enough to glance to the side, where First was slumped against the bed, his head pillowed in his arms. First wasn’t yet asleep, so when Riku shifted in the bed he yawned and sat back in his chair. First wasn’t old – very few Chaos Soldiers were – but he certainly looked every year and then some in that moment when he sat slumped next to Riku’s bed. “You almost died.” First said simply. “It hit me yesterday when Lea and Isa said you were awake. Seventeen, you’re just a kid.”

Riku turned his head back and stared at the ceiling. “Am I though? Is any Chaos Soldier?”

“No.” First replied. “You’re right. We forget that. When you were twelve and first assigned to my squad, my runt, it hit me then too. I didn’t think about it when I was twelve and on the field for the first time, how young I was.” He sighed. “My wife is pregnant. Three months. Her birth control failed. I can’t help but think about what sort of future the child of a Chaos Soldier would have when Aptitudes are so hereditary. I found out yesterday morning and I…”

“You’ve been thinking too much, First.” Riku interrupted. “You and Second, you’re always brooding. You’re right – having a chaos Aptitude is a death sentence, but you’re wrong in thinking that just because you have one so will your kid. Your wife has, what, twenty Aptitudes? You have seventeen and only one of them is a chaos Aptitude. I’d say you have pretty good odds between the two of you that it’ll be fine.” Riku pushed a smile to his lips. “And I didn’t die. Doctors say I’ll make a full recovery. I guess I’ll take my time though, so you and baby lion can get to know each other before the handlers decide we’re needed on the front lines again.

First smirked. “No, we’ll pull some favors to make sure we get local missions for a few months when the baby’s born. You’ve got to get better quick – I’m going to want my squad at the baby shower and you and Roxas and Namine can’t come back to Point Departure until you’re cleared for reactivation.

Riku smiled. “All right then, I’ll work on getting better fast. In the meantime, tell Counselor Heartilly I hope you two have a girl.”

That startled a laugh out of First, who replied, “As long as the baby isn’t a heartless, I don’t care what we have.”

“Girl.” Riku repeated firmly. “I can’t imagine a mini First running around the base. One is enough.”

*~*~*

It was another week and a half before Riku could get out of bed, aided by crutches as he hobbled around the room for only a few minutes at a time. He spent most of that week and a half asleep, recovering from his ordeal and near-death experience, the wounds (most notable of which was a large gash across his chest which was going to scar horribly) healing slowly, the breaks in his bones even more slowly.

Lea, Isa, and First visited him most often. Second’s husband was also a Chaos Soldier, but when Second’s husband, the First of another squad, left for the warfront again he joined the rotation with the rest of adult members of the squad. The less frequent visitors were Counselor Brille and Doctor Gainsborough, who were overseeing Riku’s care and coordinating continued treatment with the hospital on Destiny Islands, and Handlers Fair and Bracha. Fair normally worked with Riku’s squad, having some sort of long history with both Second and his husband, while Bracha was the handler that had been chosen to accompany Riku to Destiny Islands. Chosen because Auron Bracha had a sister and a nephew on Destiny Islands, a nephew who was Riku’s age and about to graduate high school.

“Babysitting for a few months is a small price to pay for a paid vacation to my sister’s place.” Bracha commented wryly.

Riku resented that the handlers called accompanying deactivated juvenile Chaos Soldiers “babysitting” because there was nothing young or babyish about even the youngest Chaos Soldiers. Besides, everyone knew Handlers were there because chaos Aptitudes were dangerous. The curse was only suitable for war, and having a chaos Aptitude made you unsuitable for life among innocent civilians. So handlers were there to keep the innocent civilians safe from the dangerous, unpredictable, unstable Chaos Soldiers.

By the end of the second week since Riku woke up in the hospital, all the arrangements had been made and appropriate forms signed. Everyone came by the afternoon Riku was discharged. First and Counselor Heartilly, Second and Handler Fair, who took verbal potshots at one another any chance they got, Isa and Lea. Riku’s family – the one that mattered. Handler Bracha came as Riku was getting one last lecture about his recovery plan from Dr. Gainsborough, and then all too soon they were headed towards the airfield, where a charter would take them into nearby Twilight Town’s airport and from there a commercial flight out to Destiny Islands.

Riku missed his squad and Point Departure before the charter even left the ground. As Handler Bracha absorbed himself in a book, Riku focused on making a mental list of all the things he’d need to do to get cleared for activation again. Dr. Gainsborough said his first evaluation for reactivation would be in three months – Riku was determined to be ready by then.

*~*~*

Riku had only vague memories of Destiny Islands. He’d been five when his first Aptitude appeared, and it’d been bad luck for it to be a chaos Aptitude. Depature’s academy had seen Chaos Soldiers as young as Riku before, but so rarely that Riku had been the youngest by two years in his training class. Most of the other cadets remembered their homes, but Riku had forgotten his rather quickly. Being back on Iolana, one of the small outlying islands away from the main island, where Riku had been born and lived the first few years of his life, Riku though he might remember this or that location. There was only one school on Iolana, and as Riku and Handler Bracha passed it, Riku had a sudden memory of skinned knees on the playground. There were no vehicles besides the occasional golf cart allowed on Iolana, as the island was too small to support that sort of infrastructure, so Riku and Handler Bracha walked the short two miles from the ferry dock in the commercial and tourist distract to the residential cul-de-sac where Riku parents still lived.

It was during that walk that Riku realized he well and truly was a stranger here. He stood out in his dark clothes, both because of the color and because of the way it covered his skin from his neck to his wrists and ankles, hiding all his Aptitudes from view. A few people recognized Handler Bracha and greeted him politely, but when their eyes fell on the handgun holstered at Bracha’s hip they inevitably shied away. To keep the peace, Caelum required very special permits for arms to be carried among civilians. Even police were not allowed to carry a gun openly. Therefore, a weapon carried in a civilian area often meant an active handler escorting a Chaos Soldier. As such, people took one look at Riku and then found an excuse to leave.

Bracha did not seem the least bit offended by the few encounters they had, when they all inevitably ended with an abrupt shying away as the citizens of Iolana realized there was a Chaos Soldier in their midst. Riku, however, wasn’t used to such behavior. He’d never been in a civilian area though, and his back felt bare without the familiar weight of his rifle over his shoulder. Everything felt strange to him – the lack of a uniform, the lack of a weapon, the way civilians treated him. The civilians on Point Departure learned quickly not to fear Chaos Soldiers – they were outnumbered by them and worked with them on a daily basis.

Though it’d been morning when the plane landed on the main island, it was early afternoon by the time Riku and Handler Bracha arrived at the place Bracha informed Riku was his parent’s house. It wasn’t much, a two-story single family on a quarter acre lot, a small front yard and gate that led into a stone paved courtyard with high stone walls that granted a modicum of privacy. Riku didn’t recognize it at all, nor did he recognize the middle-aged woman who opened the door. She was obviously Riku’s mother – same heart shaped face, silver-blond hair, and wide blue eyes – but beyond that, Riku was taller and had a smaller nose, and he was whipcord thin – all muscles, compared to her comfortable weight and softened curves.

“Ms. Cairn.” Handler Bracha greeted. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person. I’m Handler Auron Bracha with the Department of the Military. May we come in?”

“Please.” Ms. Cairn replied faintly, and stepped aside. Riku followed Bracha into the house and took his cue from the handler as they made themselves comfortable on blue fabric couch that overlooked the window facing the backyard, Riku’s cane which he’d used to support himself resting against the arm. Ms. Cairn took the seat furthest from them in the room, a rocking chair settled under a patch of sunlight. “I was told to expect you today, but I had thought it might be later in the day.”

“We took an earlier ferry.” Bracha explained. “I apologize for the inconvenience.”

“This whole situation is an inconvenience.” Ms. Cairn replied. “Being a few hours earlier is hardly going to make it worse.”

“I apologize for that too.” Bracha said, tone calm and even. Riku, however, winced at the harsh words. He’d known he wouldn’t be welcome, but hearing it so bluntly still stung. “The military is well aware of the burden deactivated Chaos Soldiers place on their families. It’s one of the reasons we try not to deactivate them when they’re so young.”

“Then why did you?” Ms. Cairn’s tone was cold enough to freeze fire. Riku stared at his hands, folded in his lap, and didn’t dare look up.

“The circumstances forced us to.” Handler Bracha replied. “Your son was on a mission a month ago and sustained life-threatening injuries which require time and rest to heal. Riku is expected to make a full recovery so standard operating procedure was to deactivate the whole squad.”

Ms. Cairn frowned but did not push the subject. Instead Riku dared to glance up finally and saw her sitting with her arms crossed and lips pursed. “I supposed there’s no helping it. The guest room’s been made up; I’ve been informed that you have suitable lodgings, Mr. Bracha?” At Bracha’s nod she continued, “I still have reservations, but as long as he stays away from my daughter, I suppose I’ll just have to bite my tongue.”

Riku’s head shot up at that, fast enough that his healing neck protested the movement. Ms. Cairn’s daughter? Riku had a sister? How old was she? Did she look like Riku? What were her Aptitudes? He wanted to ask any (all) these questions. Not once in the handful of conversations he’d had with the handlers about going back to Destiny had _anyone_ mentioned that Riku’s parents had another child.

But Bracha just nodded. “Your reservations have been noted, Ms. Cairn. However, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about. Riku is docile.”

Ms. Cairn huffed. “Whatever you say, Mr. Bracha.”

*~*~*

Handler Bracha stayed only long enough to help Riku change the bandages on his chest and make sure that Riku’s belongings, meager and few but sent ahead of them, had all arrived in one piece, before he departed, apparently heading for his sister’s house where he’d be staying in the evenings. Days would be spent with Riku of course. Riku was allowed to be unsupervised with his family, but a tracking bracelet would fire off an alert to Bracha if he left the premises without the man to escort him. Beyond that, Bracha was supposed to be aiding in Riku’s physical therapy and taking Riku to the mainland twice a week for doctor’s appointments.

Once the handler left, Riku pulled out his military issued laptop and sat curled up against the head of the bed as he checked his messages and read his emails. Counselor Brille had scheduled an appointment with him for the day after tomorrow and Riku huffed even as he accepted the reminder. There was a high rate of suicide among Chaos Soldiers. As such, every Chaos Soldier was required to check in with a counselor at least once a month for an hour-long session, more often if the counselor deemed it necessary. Counselor Brille had been Riku’s counselor for five years, the whole time Riku had been activated after the academy.

The next email in his queue was from Namine to the whole squad. It wasn’t long, just a small update informing them that she and Roxas had arrived safely in Twilight Town and were settling into a routine. She also asked after Riku, so Riku sent back a reply informing her of his progress and his arrival on Destiny Islands.

Isa’s email was next in the chain, a sort of informal squad newsletter that included pictures from Counselor Heartilly’s latest ultrasound and a reminder that Lea was collecting bets for whether First’s baby was a boy or a girl. Riku shot Lea a message officially casting his bet for a girl.

The rest of the emails were official correspondence and notifications from various entities. Riku sorted and read and deleted as need be, before all too soon his queue was empty. He set his computer aside and curled up on his side on the unfamiliar guest bed in an unfamiliar room, listening to the unfamiliar sounds of the Cairn family moving and talking below, readying for dinner. Riku didn’t feel hungry enough to brave the hostile looks of his family, so he stayed in that room and fell asleep wishing he was anywhere but here.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are so sweet! Thank you to everyone who left comments on the last chapter! I very much enjoyed hearing what you had to say.
> 
> This chapter is shorter because I spent 4 hours staring at the word document unable to come up with anything else to add, so I decided to jump back over to Riku's POV and leave Well Enough alone.

Two weeks before the end of the school year, and Sora was half asleep in honors history class, listening to the teacher drone on and on about the history of Caelum and the darkness at the edges of the realm, when he saw the two strangers walking past outside the classroom window. Well, not strangers; Sora recognized Tidus Jeih’s uncle, Auron, as one of the men, but not the teenager in his company. Tidus had said his uncle was coming to Iolana for his graduation, but Sora hadn’t expected the man to arrive so far ahead of the actual ceremony.

There were four kids on Iolana graduating this year, and as much as Sora wished he was one of them, he still had another year of school left before he could officially say goodbye to Destiny Islands. That was, if any school accepted him into their undergraduate programs.

Sora sighed and remembered that he’d have to pass his exams if he wanted any hope of being accepted anywhere, and turned to listen back in to the teacher.

“The Unified States of Caelum managed to push back the darkness beyond the barrier of Departure, but to keep it from returning the Council established the charter of Departure Academy and the military branch of Chaos Soldiers.” The teacher explained. “The Council recognized that though those with chaos Aptitudes would never be suited for a normal life, through their service to Caelum, chaos born could still become contributing members of society – ah, yes Tidus, you had a question?”

Sora glanced away from the window and over towards Tidus on the other end of the classroom. “Yes sir, I was wondering what happened to chaos born before the Academy was established?”

“Ah,” The teacher said. “They were often killed as soon as their Aptitude appeared. If not killed, they were ostracized. Many see chaos born as impeding the progress of a peaceful society, as barriers towards a perfect utopia. The darkness is drawn to them, you see, and that’s why they’re uniquely capable of fighting it back. Any other questions?” At the silence, the teacher said, “All right, then you all know your final reports on a topic of your choosing are due at the end of next week? I have almost everyone’s topic. I’m just missing Yuna, Kairi, and Sora’s topics. Class dismissed.”

Sora groaned. He hadn’t even begun to think about what to write about. Nothing really interested him about Caelum’s history. He didn’t have an Aptitude for it, not like Tidus did, nor did he particularly care for it beyond studying what was necessary for passing the class with top marks.

He was about to slip out of the classroom when Tidus called for him. Sora paused and turned as Tidus caught up to him.

“Hey Tidus, what’s up?” Sora asked cheerfully. Tidus was the most popular kid in school, but he was well liked for a good reason – he was friendly to everyone. Even Sora and Vesta, who were widely considered the school pariahs. Sora for his lack of Aptitudes and Vesta because, well. Nobody ever talked about Vesta’s brother. Everyone was half afraid Vesta would also be cursed, and that by keeping their distance from her, they could protect themselves from heartbreak when she inevitably went away.

Tidus said, “I was wondering if you’d spoken with Vesta recently? She wasn’t in music class today.” He asked. Sora lived next door to Vesta and used to babysit the ten-year-old when she was little. He was practically her big brother.

“No.” Sora replied slowly. “She’s got some family thing going on right now. Her dad took her fishing with him this morning. Why?”

Tidus waved him off. “Just wondering. Hey, how are your animals doing? How’s Goofy?” He asked, naming Sora’s most recent rescue. Sora had a veritable menagerie of animals. Two mice, a duck, two dogs, two chipmunks, various fish and sea creatures, and three cats. Sora had something of a reputation on Iolana. If you had an injured animal, Sora was the person to ask for treatment advice. Because of that, Sora desperately wanted to be a vet. He even had the Aptitude for animals for it.

Unfortunately, most vet schools required an Aptitude for medicine as well, which Sora didn’t have. Generosity and collaboration Aptitudes didn’t cut it.

Sora beamed. “Good! He’s gotten better and I’ve started training him too! He’s a good dog and he absolutely adores Pluto and the mice!”

They chatted for a few more minutes as they walked towards the front of the school, the last class of the day over and done with. “Hey,” Tidus said as they prepared to part ways. “My uncle is supposed to be arriving today so I gotta head home, but if you see Vesta before I do, let her know she was missed in class today.”

“I know.” Sora replied. “I will.” He smiled and waved as Tidus took off into his group of friends, before Sora turned and headed for his house.

*~*~*

The next morning, Saturday, Sora was awake early to let the dogs out into the backyard and feed the cats before they decided Sora would make a nice snack. He caught the tail end of sunrise from the porch swing in the backyard, which faced the water, rocking back and forth as he contemplated while Goofy and Pluto sniffed around the enclosed space, enjoying the early summer morning.

Sora’s plans for the day were pretty simple – study for the upcoming Aptitude Supplement on the mainland and maybe pop over next door and see how Vesta and her family were doing. An Aptitude Supplement was supposed to prove proficiency in an Aptitude, because while an Aptitude meant that one had an innate sense of mastery over their field, you could still become proficient in areas you didn’t have Aptitudes if you worked hard enough. Sora was planning to take the Alchemical and Medicine Supplements over the summer so he’d be better situated to apply to a pre-vet program next year.

Having only three Aptitudes, when kids his age usually had at least twelve, meant that Sora dealt with a lot of judgment from people who didn’t even know him. He’d already been turned down from every summer job he’d ever applied for because he “didn’t have the right Aptitudes” for the work. Even the University of Destiny Islands had refused Sora’s summer academic application on grounds of Sora’s lack of qualifications. It was, simply put, frustrating.

Sora had top marks in school. He was hard working and dedicated and spent so much time studying for things he didn’t have an Aptitude for in order to make up for his deficiencies. Yet none of it seemed to matter. He turned his hand over in his lap and glanced down at the Aptitude on his right wrist. Generosity was such a useless Aptitude. The mark spiraled down his forearm in meandering curves, mocking him. It was Sora’s first Aptitude, it had appeared when he was six, and at the time it’d held the promise of more Aptitudes to come.

Yet Sora’s last Aptitude, collaboration, had appeared when he was twelve, at a time when most kids had around ten Aptitudes. It was then that everyone had been forced to admit that Sora wasn’t a late bloomer. He wasn’t going to one day catch up to everyone else. The whispers that had followed Sora everywhere became pitying glances that turned into declined invitations to events and parties and school programs.

Pluto appeared at Sora’s knee and dragged the boy from his melancholy thoughts when he dropped a ball in Sora’s lap and sat back, panting expectantly. Sora smiled. At least his animals needed him. They didn’t judge him for what he couldn’t control. He threw the ball.

*~*~*

Sora was just finishing changing the bandages on Goofy’s injured leg when he heard the knock on the gate to the backyard. Figuring it was probably Vesta come to play with Pluto or the mice, Sora called, “Come in!”

He gave Goofy one final pat on the head as he rose to his feet and headed for the screen door to the backyard, but paused when he saw it wasn’t Vesta in his backyard, but rather Tidus’s uncle, Auron, and the young man from yesterday. The young man, who was really a teenager around Sora’s age, was leaning on a cane and had his free arm wrapped around a blanket bundled close to his chest. Sora paused, momentarily stunned, before he smiled brightly. “Hi! What can I do for you?”

The teenager was staring at the ground and didn’t raise his head, but Auron said, “Hi Sora. Tidus said you take care of injured animals?”

Sora nodded and peered more closely at the blanket bundled to the teenager’s chest. He approached the other boy and held out both his hands to take the bundle from the teen. “Can I see please?” Sora asked, when the boy made no immediate move to relinquish his burden.

“Riku.” Auron said softly, and the boy nodded before letting Sora take the animal in his arms.

Sora unfolded the blanket just enough to see that it was a duck, a female by his best guesses, buried in the blanket, which was splattered with trace amounts of blood. She was breathing, at least, and Sora crooned in sympathy. “Poor thing. Probably got attacked by a seal or something. They’re more vicious than people think.” He glanced back up at the pair. “Thank you for bringing her to me. I’ll see what I can do.”

Auron nodded and turned to go, but the teenager stayed, having not moved from his spot. “Riku.” Auron called. “You did your good deed for the day.”

Sora glanced back and forth between the boy – Riku? – and Auron. “You can stay.” Sora said impulsively. “I don’t mind. I’m gonna take this girl inside and see what I can do to help her, you can keep me company while I work.” He offered them both his most winning smile.

Riku glanced up at that. “You don’t mind?” He asked. His voice was soft, hesitant. He glanced over his shoulder at Auron then back at Sora. He had really blue eyes, Sora noticed, but not the same ocean blue as Sora’s, more like a sky blue, lighter and softer.

Sora shook his head. “Not at all.” He said brightly. “Come inside and sit down. My moms are both at work right now so it’s just me.” He held out his hand for Riku to take. “I’m Sora Hikaru.”

“Riku.” The boy replied and took Sora’s hand. There was a bandage across the back of his hand, the edges flaked with sand and a bit of blood.

Auron said, “We can stay for a little while, as long as you’re fine with it, Sora.”

“Of course, I am.” Sora responded. He led them into the kitchen through the screen door and shooed one of the cats off the table where his books and homework were spread out to study. He pushed them aside until he had a cleaner place to work and carefully set the bundle down on the table. He peeled back the blanket enough to look at the wound, a small gash along the poor bird’s side.

Auron and Riku took seats at the table while Sora ran into the kitchen to grab his med kit, returning a moment later with both Pluto and Goofy in tow. He worked for a few minutes, the dining room quiet at he cleaned the wound and checked to see if it needed stitches, the duck remaining calm in his hands. Finally, Sora broke the silence, “Tidus said you were going to visit for graduation.” He commented to Auron. “He’s been pretty excited about it for a while now, but I guess I thought you’d be here closer to the actual graduation.”

Auron said, “Work brought me into town for a few months. I can’t say I’m disappointed.”

“Work?” Sora didn’t know what Auron did for work. Tidus never said, if he even knew.

“Escorting Riku.” Auron clarified with a nod at the teen who hadn’t said a word but was watching Sora work intently. At the sound of his name, Riku’s eyes flickered up briefly, meeting Sora’s, before he dropped his head. His long silver hair hid his expression from view.

“Oh.” Sora didn’t get it. “What do you do for work, anyway?” He asked.

Riku cast a sharp glance sideways at Auron, but the older man just replied calmly, “I’m a handler with the military.” He said. “I’m escorting Riku right now while he’s in a deactivated status.”

Sora glanced back over at the boy across from him. “Oh.” He said faintly. He took another, more thorough look at the teen across from him. Riku was staring down at the table again. He was surprisingly fine featured, more pretty than handsome, really. His clothes were odd, a long-sleeved turtle neck and long black cargo pants. In the heat of the early summer, they had to be uncomfortable to wear. His skin was pale, which wasn’t unusual for people not from the islands. Even so, he didn’t _look_ like a Chaos Soldier. Not that Sora had ever seen one before. Everyone said Chaos Soldiers were able to use their Aptitudes to cause great feats of destruction so Sora kind of imagined they’d be, well, bigger. Scarier.

“We’ll go.” Riku whispered softly and pushed his chair back to stand.

Sora swallowed. “Stay.” He spoke without fully thinking his words through. All he knew is that Riku looked lonely and he’d rescued an injured duck. How bad of a person could he be? “It’s okay. I don’t mind. Unless… you want to go. If you want to leave, I won’t stop you.”

Riku froze. “You don’t mind?” He repeated. Sora kind of liked his voice, soft-spoken and gentle.

Sora smiled at him. “Nope!” He turned his attention back to the duck. She was starting to move now that she wasn’t in shock anymore. Thank goodness. Sora carefully checked the wound and bandaged it before the duck recovered too much more. He still got pecked once for his trouble before he set her in one of the cat beds in the corner of the dining room. “Don’t you start, missy!” He lectured, even as he was relieved to see the duck ruffle it’s feathers in annoyance before settling down where she was set. To Riku and Auron, Sora said, “Looks like she’s going to be just fine. Just a little bit of a shock. I’ll probably release her back into the wild once her wounds close a bit.”

“Thank you.” Riku replied. “I appreciate you doing this for me.”

“No problem.” Sora reassured easily. “Thank you for bringing her to me.”

A few more pleasantries exchanged and Riku and Auron rose to leave. Sora walked with them to the back gate. “If you want,” Sora said, once again speaking before thinking. “You can come back tomorrow to see how the duck’s doing. I don’t mind. I’m just studying and doing homework, so it’s not like I won’t be here.”

“Are you sure?” Riku asked hesitantly.

Sora nodded. “Yeah! Come back and hang out, if you’re not busy that is. I don’t mind.”

Riku glanced over at Auron, who said, “We can come back. It would be good for you to get out of the house.”

“All right.” Riku turned back to Sora with a soft, hesitant smile. “Thank you… I’ll see you tomorrow.”

**Author's Note:**

> Consider leaving a comment or kudos if you enjoyed. I enjoy getting feedback from readers and connecting with people through fan fiction!


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